Lions vs. 49ers: Final Report Card, Player Grades for Detroit

The San Francisco 49ers beat the Detroit Lions 27-19 on Sunday Night Football. The 49ers were up the entire game and held the Lions at an arm's length throughout this contest. The game was not as close as the score indicates as the 49ers were physically superior in this game.

This was a very tough test for the Lions, and they kept the score close, but the game was really never in doubt for the 49ers. Considering the opponent, the Lions did a decent job, but they have a ways to go if they are to contend with teams like the one they faced in this game.

Let's look at the Lions' final postgame grades and evaluations.

Quarterback

Matthew Stafford — C-

Matthew Stafford played a pretty poor game on Sunday Night Football as he routinely missed on his throws. He was going against an incredibly tough defense and he had a tough game. Stafford is one of the game’s elite quarterbacks, but he didn’t look elite against the 49ers in this game.

Stafford finished 19-of-32 for 230 yards. He threw a very late touchdown and a pretty horrendous interception in the first half. He looked a little rattled and he was not accurate against the 49ers. This was not a pretty game for Stafford.

The Lions routinely threw short passes because the 49ers were playing two deep safeties, and they were doing a great job of limiting the short routes and they really disrupted the Lions offense. Stafford threw into very tight windows all night and he did not do a good job of accurately delivering the ball.

Running Backs

Kevin Smith — C

The Lions were very predictable on offense against the 49ers, as they tried to punish the defense for playing their safeties so far from the line of scrimmage. They ran on first down throughout the entire game and the offense we have grown accustomed to watching was not on display in this game.

Kevin Smith was the Lions featured back, and he ran tough but he never got going against this tough 49ers defense. Smith carried the ball 16 times and finished with 53 yards. He also caught two passes for 17 yards. In all, Smith touched the ball 18 times and averaged 3.9 yards per touch.

Joique Bell — B-

Joique Bell was a secondary rusher in this game, but he ran for some tough yards and he made a big play in the fourth quarter catching the ball out of the backfield. Bell ran it six times for 14 yards, and he caught two passes for 59 yards. Bell continues to make the most out if his opportunities.

Wide Receivers

Calvin Johnson — B

Calvin Johnson had a pretty quiet game along with the rest of the offense, but even in a down game he managed to put up eight catches for 94 yards. The 49ers doubled Johnson throughout the game, and they played their safeties 20-25 yards off the line of scrimmage to take away the deep ball.

Johnson was a relative non-factor as he never really threatened to 49ers defense vertically. He worked very hard all night to try to get open and ended up with pretty good numbers overall. The Lions were simply outmatched going up against the 49ers defense, but Johnson gave great effort in the game.

Titus Young — C-

Titus Young was a non-factor in this matchup as he finished with one catch for 11 yards. This wasn’t the best matchup for him as his specialty is taking the top off the defense, and the 49ers simply refused to allow that to happen. Young needs to play better in the coming weeks, as he didn’t help the offense in this game.

Nate Burleson — C

Nate Burleson had an ineffective game against the 49ers as he finished with one catch. It went for 11 yards and he carried the ball twice for five yards. Burleson, along with the rest of the offense looked out of sorts against the 49ers. Burleson did not have a great performance in this game.

Tight Ends

Brandon Pettigrew — C+

The matchup against the 49ers is nightmarish for the Lions tight ends because of how physical the 49ers linebackers are. Pettigrew has a hard time getting any separation from players like Patrick Willis, and it limits his production. Pettigrew caught three passes for 18 yards and scored a touchdown on a nine-yard pass from Stafford. He was very quiet in this game.

Tony Scheffler — C

Tony Scheffler had a tough game as he caught one pass for 13 yards. He wasn’t targeted very often as the Lions offense played it conservative and ran the ball more than they normally do. Much like the other players on offense, Scheffler didn’t do too much against the 49ers.

Offensive Line

Jeff Backus — B

Jeff Backus did a great job of protecting quarterback Matthew Stafford in this game. The 49ers managed to sack Stafford twice, but that is a very manageable number going against such a strong defense. Backus did not do all that great trying to give the running backs room to run, but that is not a particular strength of his game.

Rob Sims — B

Rob Sims did a nice job of keeping Stafford clean in this game, especially facing 49ers defensive tackle Justin Smith and company. The offensive line was really good in pass protection but they struggled trying to move the defensive linemen off of the ball.

Dominic Raiola — B

Much like the other offensive linemen, Raiola was very good in pass protection but fairly poor in the running game. The Lions aren’t asking Raiola to open up holes for them, as his job is to make the calls for the offensive line. He did a nice job of diagnosing the 49ers attemp0ts to get to Stafford.

Stephen Peterman — B

Stephen Peterman was good in this game, as he didn’t take any bad penalties and he made a few nice blocks. Peterman did a great job of sealing the 49ers defender to the outside on the quarterback sneak that Stafford ran.

Gosder Cherilus —B

Gosder Cherilus was also not a problem from a penalty perspective in this game, and in a tight game that matters. He did a good job in pass protection, but the running game suffered because the Lions were physically outmatched at the line of scrimmage.

Defensive Line

Ndamukong Suh — B

Ndamukong Suh had another strong performance, as he was impossible to block when the Lions lined him up at defensive end. Teams are still taking advantage of his aggressiveness by running the ball at him, but he is much better than he was a year ago. Suh finished with 1.5 sacks and three total tackles.

Cliff Avril — C-

Cliff Avril had a lackluster game against the 49ers as he did not register a tackle. He got a little pressure on 49ers quarterback Alex Smith, but he never got home to register a sack. It was a forgettable game for Avril.

Kyle Vanden Bosch — C

Vanden Bosch did a good job of pressuring the quarterback in this game, but his aggressiveness led to a few big runs by running back Frank Gore. Vanden Bosch did register a sack, but he struggled against the run.

Corey Williams — C-

Corey Williams had a very quiet night as he finished with one total tackle and he had a half sack.

Linebackers

Justin Durant — B-

Justin Durant and the linebacker group as a whole had a tough job in the game against the 49ers, as the 49ers used the trap play to spring running back Frank Gore. It put the linebackers in a tough position as they needed to make a lot of open field tackles.

Durant had a fairly strong game registering 7 total tackles.

Stephen Tulloch — B-

Stephen Tulloch did a great job in coverage against the 49ers and he did a good job of tackling in the game. Tulloch had a nice pass breakup and finished with five total tackles. It was a tough test, but Tulloch did a nice job against the 49ers.

DeAndre Levy — B+

DeAndre Levy seemed to be all over the field in this game as he did a great job of tracking down the ball from his weak side. Levy finished with nine tackles, the majority of them in the open field. Levy had a very strong game against the 49ers.

Defensive Backs

Jacob Lacey — C+

Lacey got the start in this game because of injuries to starters Chris Houston and Bill Bentley. He was adequate but the Lions really were not tested in this game. The Lions could not get off of the field on the fourth quarter when they needed to get the ball back. When the 49ers went after the secondary, it looked pretty weak.

Drayton Florence — C+

Drayton Florence had a bit if a rough game when they 49ers tested him. The Lions were down by one score in the fourth quarter and when they needed to get the ball back, they could not get off of the field. The secondary was weak when they were challenged.

Erik Coleman — B-

Erik Coleman was very active tackling the running back tonight, and that spells doom for a safety to have to be so active in run support. It means that the running backs were easily getting to the second level of the defense, and the safeties had to step up to support the run. Coleman did a good job of tackling in this game as he finished with five total tackles.

John Wendling — B

John Wendling was a very active man on defense as he finished with nine total tackles. He came up in run support and did a good job of tackling. The Lions would prefer to not have their safeties so involved in tackling the ball carrier, but Wendling did a nice job against the 49ers.

Special Teams

Special Teams — B+

The only knock that can be made on the special teams is the missed field goal. Other than the miss, this aspect of the game did not hurt the Lions in any way. They did a great job of preventing a big return, and they made four out of the five field goals that they attempted. Kicker Jason Hanson was very good in the swirling winds in San Francisco, and punter Ben Graham average 40.5 yards per punt. The special teams were strong in this game.

Coaching

Coaching — B

The coaching staff kept the Lions in this game, and that is saying something against perhaps the best team in the NFL on the road. It was a good showing on national television for the Lions. They altered their game plan and ran the ball because of the scheme the defense was running. The Lions could have allowed their frustrations to show, but they didn't and the coaches did a very good job in this game.